According to TMZ, Joycelyn Savage is claiming her father, Timothy Savage, set up her initial meeting with Kelly.

The site reports:

We’re told the eventual plan — hatched by Dad, R. Kelly and others — was for Joycelyn to stay at Kelly’s house to develop as a singer under his tutelage. We’re told Timothy was the one who dropped her off at a friend’s house to be driven to Kelly’s.

Sources told TMZ Timothy knew Joycelyn would be staying with Kelly for an extended period, but the parents did not expect it to be for years.

The Buzzfeed article that broke the story does note that Joycelyn’s mother and father were open to their daughter working with Kelly to advance her music career.

“When we got to go backstage with R. Kelly, we stayed there over two hours,” said Joycelyn’s mother about meeting the legendary singer at a concert. “One-on-one with just me and my daughter and him. We went back to talk about the music. He listened to her CD. He was going to help her with her CD, and I was really impressed with him at first, because I have always been an R. Kelly fan.”

Joycelyn apparently enrolled for summer classes at Georgia Gwinnett College in June 2016, a year after meeting Kelly.

Buzzfeed also spoke with Joycelyn’s former college roommate.

The publication reports:

By the middle of the 2016 fall semester, [Joycelyn’s] appearance started to change: She began losing weight, and she cropped her long hair short, permed what was left, and dyed it blonde, said her parents and the former roommate. [The roomate] recalled her friend telling her that’s how Kelly liked her hair to look.

[Joycelyn] eventually began skipping all of her classes, and she did not show up to take her finals in mid-December. Her parents confirmed the school considers her a student who is “no longer in good standing.”

Meek Mill and TIDAL have announced a series of intimate concerts to promote the release of the Philly rapper’s new album, WINS AND LOSSES. The pop-up shows will go down in New York City, Washington, DC and Philadelphia.

There is one catch. In order to attend, you need to be rolling with TIDAL.

TIDAL subscribers can go to TIDAL.com/MeekMill for a chance to be at one of the pop-up concerts. NYC’s show goes down July 21, Philadelphia’s is July 24 and Washington’s is July 24.

WINS AND LOSSES is Meek’s third album and the follow-up to DC4 and Dreams Worth More Than Money, and is in stores this Friday, July 21.

There is no doubt that Sammy Sosa has some deep-seated complexion issues. The once brown-skinned, former major league baseball slugger debuted an even whiter (maybe “pinker”) look, and Twitter is reacting with its best slander.

Most of the commentary is centered on the audacity of Sosa’s snow white complexion considering what he used to look like. Of course, the jokes are flowing. Also, the pink shirt and derby combo that blended into his Pepto skin-tone didn’t help his cause.

But first, let’s look at the emotional issues behind his aesthetic alteration…

After pursuing the fade with The Game’s manager, Wack 100 for the last couple of days, it appears as though Treach now wants to settle things in a more civilized manner.

The beef popped off on social media a few days ago, when Treach called out Funmaster Flex and Wack for comments they made on his late homie, Tupac. “TREACH BOYARDEE JUST BBQ BAKED THESE 2 BITCH BOYS ON A NEXT BANGER CALLED ” 2 GUNS & ROSES “, I’M IN L.A., WHERE MY 2PAC RIDAZ@ ?” Treach wrote in the caption of an Instagram post announcing an upcoming diss song.

Wack fired back calling for the fade and even trying to taunt Treach into a rumble by bringing his mother up. Treach obliged the knuckle up. A day later though, it appears the New Jersey spitta has calmed down and is getting some advice from the big homies on how to settle things without violence.

He recently posted this update to the situation on IG. “ANY OF MY FOLLOWERS BANGING WITH EACH OTHER UNFOLLOW ME,” he captioned a selfie. “FYI I’M IN L.A. NOW MEETING WITH ORIGINAL GENERALS TO GET A TRUCE ON THIS WACK 100 DISPUTE, SO ALL MY WARRIORS & WOLVES FALL BACK WE HERE FOR A PEACEFUL RESOLUTION NOT WRECKLESSNESS, STAND DOWN I’LL KEEP YA INFORMED.”

Wack is clearly not here for any time of truce, and still deeply wants to handle things by force. Hopping on IG, he responded to Treach’s talk of a peaceful ending to the conflict by saying he refuses to accept any olive branches from the Naughty By Nature rapper.

“You been on the phone all day with the homies trying to squash this shit. Ain’t no squashing this shit,” he said in an IG video. “I gave you action and you fumbled the ball nigga. Ain’t none of that. It’s on. Bring your bitch ass out Ima stomp the teeth out of your mouth.”

T.I. says that there is no issue between himself and Tameka “Tiny” Harris. He just doesn’t want to be married anymore.

“There is no beef,” T.I. said in a recent interview with Angie Martinez. “Like, we’re good. We’re straight. Everybody else got the problem. We see each other. We speak. We talk. We spend time together. We’re good.”

He then went on to say that his relationship with Tiny is still good, despite the separation, and that they are the best of friends.

“That’s still one of the best friends in the world that I’ve ever had,” he said. “I can be a better best friend than a husband,” he said before going on to say that marriage just isn’t what he’s looking for anymore.

“It seems to me that marriage and what marriage means and what marriage does — it’s just one of those things that’s going to distract me and deter me. And that could be selfish, but ultimately, I’m the patriarch of this family. And it’s my responsibility to take us onward and upward. I just have a purpose and I don’t always have the time to do the thoughtful and considerate thing that a husband should do.”

Rapper Kevin Gates will be returning to Illinois to face weapons charges.

The 31-year-old entertainer was about to be released from the Polk County Jail when the Cook County, Ill., felony warrant was found.

He had been serving a 180-day sentence after being convicted in October 2016 for kicking an 19-year-old woman during a performance on Aug. 30, 2015, at a Lakeland nightclub.

During a first appearance hearing at 1 p.m. Friday in the Polk County Courthouse, Gates waived extradition to Cook County. He will be picked up by Illinois authorities within 30 days, said Assistant State Attorney Jake Orr. Chicago is in Cook County.

To waive extradition means a defendant agrees to return to the jurisdiction where he faces charges without a court hearing to determine whether the transfer is justified.

Slip N' Slide Records is back in business, as one of the Miami label's earliest acts, Trick Daddy, is set to reunite with fellow signee Trina for a forthcoming joint album. In a recent interview with Mass Appeal, the Florida rapper said he would be putting Miami back on the rap map with his "Nann N---a" collaborator.

"Yesterday me and Trina signed a deal for a Trick & Trina collabo album. So we bringing the city back,” he said. “I just want this Trick & Trina record to be classic. I’m going to turn the Diamond Princess back to the Baddest B-tch.” The record is also slated to drop via their original label, Slip N' Slide Records/Atlantic Records.

Trick Daddy added, "ATL doesn’t have a sound no more. Miami doesn’t have a sound no more. New York doesn’t have a sound no more... With the exception of Remy Ma & Fat Joe, I don’t remember the last time I heard a real New York record. With the exception of the Migos, I don’t remember the last time I heard an Atlanta record. Miami has a couple artists doing things like, Pitbull and Flo-Rida, but we need to take it back to those days, because if it wasn’t for DJ Khaled, I don’t know if our name and face would even still be mentioned or placed in a hall of fame.”

Adds Slip N' Slide ceo Ted Lucas: "[The collaboration album is] just something the fans always wanted, and now we’re officially going to make it happen ... Trick put Miami on the map with gangsta music, which was different from all perspectives. When Miami was known for booty shaking, Trick was able to change the culture of what people thought about of Miami music, and Trina was able to put female rappers on the map. We’re excited about it, and looking forward to it."

According to Trick Daddy, the Trick & Trina album will drop before the end of the year.

Hands down a South Florida club classic, this song still gets heavy rotation at venues/events through the state of Florida. Trina to this day has a heavy presence and influence amongst the South Florida Hip Hop scene, and mostly due to the singles off of her first album, "The Baddest B*tch".

From Wiki: Da Baddest Bitch is the debut album by American rapper Trina. It was released on March 21, 2000[8] through the label Atlantic/Slip-N-Slide Records.[9] The album debuted at number thirty-three on the US The Billboard 200 and number eleven on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and entered the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Catalog Albums in 2002

New single by myself and "The Pack Jam President" Radio Jamez!!! Inspired By "Am I Wrong" by Nico & Vinz, a Top 40 hit that has enjoyed crossover success within the urban community.

From Wiki: "Am I Wrong" is a song by Norwegian duo Nico & Vinz. It was released as a digital download in Norway on April 12, 2013, credited to the duo's previous name Envy, and became a hit in various Scandinavian countries, including Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. Later international releases from January 21, 2014 onwards, coinciding with the duo's name change, were credited to Nico & Vinz."

To this day I still remember when I first heard this track at Banana Joes on Cocowalk in 2006!! I was on Christmas break from Winston Salem State University in North Carolina where I was pursuing my football career and slowly losing touch with the happenings in my hometown. When the DJ dropped this record, the whole club went STUPID...and the icing on the cake was that the artist (Rick Ross) was from Carol City!! Ross definitely built a cult following from this record, putting Miami back on the national music landscape right when it was about to fall off.

From Wiki: "Hustlin' " is the first single from Miami rapper Rick Ross's debut album Port of Miami, composed by Andrew Harr, Jermaine "Mayne Zayne" Jackson and himself.